Opinions

Traditional British Democracy: 2023 Style

~ beetleypete ~ 72 Comments

It will not be news to you that the coronation of Charles III is underway in London today. Tradition, pomp, ceremony, a celebration of British values. Telling us all what a wonderful country we are blessed to live in. A free country, a democracy.

But this might be news to you.

Only around 55% of Britsh people want a monarchy. There are active groups campaigning for a republic, and the abolition of the right of people to rule this country just because their ancestors did. One large group of anti-monarchists is called ‘Republic’. It is a vocal organisation that arranges peaceful protests against members of the royal family, and the whole concept of a monarchy.

However, today they are not going to be allowed to do that. Earlier this morning, the leader of Republic was arrested. Then police removed protest placards from hired trucks. Following that, they arrested more members near the trucks containing the placards.

Hard to believe, in this wonderful democratic country?

Here’s the proof, something you might not see on any TV news channel.

MTG

~ beetleypete ~ 65 Comments

I rarely post about American politics on ths blog, and almost never about specific American politicians. Today, I am making an exception to highlight the dangers of one particular American politician who has recently been trying to stir up the desire for secession and civil war in the United States. To call this woman crazy is to let her off the hook. She knows what she is doing, and is skilled at manipulating her fan base among gun-loving, immigrant-hating white Americans. She is dangerous, be certain of that.

Like me, you might well wonder why anyone ever voted for her, and also why she has not been arrested and imprisoned.

If you don’t know who she is, then this Wikipedia article will give you some idea.

Marjorie Taylor Greene (born May 27, 1974), also known by her initials MTG, is an American politician, businesswoman, and far-right conspiracy theorist who has been the U.S. representative for Georgia’s 14th congressional district since 2021. A member of the Republican Party, she was elected to Congress in 2020 following the retirement of Republican incumbent Tom Graves, and reelected in 2022.

Greene has promoted antisemitic, white supremacist, and far-right conspiracy theories, including the white genocide conspiracy theory, QAnon, and Pizzagate. Other extremist conspiracy theories she has promoted include government involvement in mass shootings in the United States, murders perpetrated by the Clinton family (Clinton body count), and 9/11 conspiracy theories. Before running for Congress, she supported calls to execute prominent Democratic Party politicians, including Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

As a congresswoman, she equated the Democratic Party with Nazis, and compared COVID-19 safety measures to the persecution of Jews during the Holocaust, later apologizing for this comparison. During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Greene promoted Russian propaganda and praised Vladimir Putin. Greene identifies as a Christian nationalist.

Her recent TV appearance, hinting at a possible civil war in America.

https://twitter.com/RepMTG/status/1628238217714466824/video/1

What happens in America affects every country in the world, whether we like it or not.

Pandemic Pets

~ beetleypete ~ 42 Comments

My blogging friend David Miller from https://millerswindmill.wordpress.com/ sent me this article from America. He thought that I might be interested in it, and I was.

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/inflation-hitting-americas-90-million-pet-owners-hard-need-help

That got me thinking about the recent issue of ‘Pandemic Pets’ here in Britain. From the Spring of 2020 until the end of 2021, pet ownership exploded in the UK. People forced to stay at home because of lockdowns, or working from home permanently due to changes in working practices decided that what they needed in their lives was a pet.

But they didn’t think it through.

Pets need a lot of attention.
Dogs need regular exercise.
All pets need food, beds, leads, collars, toys, and some need cages and straw.
They also need to have innoculations, worming, regular health checks, and in some cases, medication or surgery.

The bills start to mount up, and even if you have Pet Insurance, that doesn’t cover everything. The weather puts people off of walking dogs. They make a mess in the house before they are trained, leave fur all over the place, chew things up, and generally impart their odours into the once clean and fragrant house.

Even a non-pedigree animal has to have a lot of money spent on it on a monthly basis. Some need grooming regularly too.

Meanwhile, the once-excited new pet owners are busy on Zoom calls, or have been summoned back to their former office or workplace once the Pandemic restrictions ceased to operate. That cuddly pup, cute cat, or fluffy rabbit has become a money pit that has to be left to its own devices for eight to ten hours a day, and those new owners begin to resent their new pet, wondering why the hell they thought it was a good idea to get one.

Then comes the war in Ukraine, the global financial crisis, increased fuel bills, rampant inflation, and huge hikes in the price of petrol and diesel. Mortgage rates are set to increase, and money is tight even for those with well-paid jobs.

What happens next is that animal shelters and rescue centres are inundated with unwanted dogs, cats, rabbits, and other animals. The Pandemic Pet owners are even resorting to giving away their supposedly beloved pets via Facebook, or selling them cheap to anyone with the cash who will collect them. Some owners are crowdfunding to cover the cost of operations on their pets, or in the worse case scenario having perfectly healthy animals put to sleep because they can’t be bothered with them any longer.

I know this doesn’t apply to everyone who bought a pet during this period, but you only have to look at animal shelter websites to realise there is a huge issue to deal with.

Let’s hope if we have another pandemic, people who didn’t want a pet before don’t go rushing into thinking having one will change their lives.

Because ultimately, it is the poor animals who will suffer.

Green Energy: The Sad Truth

~ beetleypete ~ 62 Comments

Most of us are on board with the need to turn away from fossil fuels, and to use carbon-free energy sources. Wind-power, Solar panels, Electric cars, and many other alternatives.

But we have to look beyond the hype if we want to face facts, and see the truth.

*A conventional wind turbine needs more fossil-fuel energy to build it than it will save in its 20-year average lifetime. Even more so if it is situated out at sea.

*Solar panels need to be constructed of metal that has to be fabricated in industrial complexes dependent on fossil fuel power. Outside of very sunny locations, they rarely generate enough power to recoup the carbon footprint of making and installing them.

*Electric cars run on batteries that need metals, chemicals, and minerals extracted from the ground using child labour and intensive industrial manufacture. The body panels are made in the same way as fuel-powered cars, and the batteries only last for 7-10 years, after which they cannot currently be recycled. The electricity needed to charge them every day has to be generated, and that is currently done mostly using fossil fuel systems.

They are all great ideas, but unless someone comes up with a miraculous alternative power source, they are simply a smokescreen.

Not my facts, and not a conspiracy theory. Just the hard truth. We have reaped what we have sown.

How many solar panels can you eat?

~ beetleypete ~ 19 Comments

Another great post from Jim. Whatever your views on environmental issues, remember that we cannot eat trees or solar panels. There has to be more balance.

Jim Webster

It’s interesting that both Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak have spoken out against covering farmland with solar panels. You do wonder if finally, people are beginning to wake up a little.

Personally I think that, whether he intended to or not, Putin has created a watershed in history, but not perhaps in the way he intended.

If we go back to the start of the century, Ed Miliband put the green levies on energy. But at the same time a lot of other things were put in place, all nicely set ten, twenty or even thirty years ahead. Politicians were kicking unexploded bombs into the long grass secure in the knowledge that by the time these things happened and the public started feeling the pain, they’d be long retired on a good pension and their successors could take the flak.

When they were announced, the ban on the installation of…

View original post 914 more words

Not Ukraine

~ beetleypete ~ 50 Comments

When there are photos or videos of civilians and children being bombed and killed in Ukraine, the world is horrified.

‘Horrific’. ‘Inhuman’. ‘Criminal’. ‘War crime’. ‘Unjustified’. Just some of the headlines.

But when Israel attacks Gaza today, bombing civilian targets, killing civilians including children, and terrorising others in their homes, the media is completely silent.

Not a word. Not a single news report so far.

So do Palestinian children not matter? Are they not white enough? Is it because Russia is not bombing them?

Look at the photos, and decide for yourself.

Israel is no better than Russia, but you won’t hear that on the BBC.

Bad Taste, Huge Expense

~ beetleypete ~ 73 Comments

As Boris falls from grace, insiders helping his demise are leaking information about his time as Prime Minister. I found this online, about the expensive refurbishments he authorised in his accommodation at Number Ten Downing Street. (Chosen by his wife, Carrie) He got a friend to pay for it, and rewarded him politically, but this is just a snippet of the excess he enjoyed as Britain was locked down, and many were losing their jobs. This was the finished living room, which I think you will agree is an eyesore after Carrie’s choices.

Estimates vary, but it is believed they spent almost £200,000 on the 4-bed flat, including the cost for decorators and installers. That equates to 21,000 hours work at the minimum wage for many people in this country. Almost 2.5 years of their salary.

It would give me a headache to sit in this awful living room.

Some of the individual item costs are unbelievable. Boris and Carrie obviously have no idea how ‘ordinary people’ live.

Close to £80,000 for the items in the living room, not including the cost of the trade work.

That rug alone cost £7,000.

One sofa cost £7,500, and they bought two. That was without the cost of the fabric covering it, at almost £2,900.

One armchair, in matching fabric. £4,200.

A mirror, (which he doesn’t use to comb his hair) £3,000.

One lamp, plus lampshade, £8,500.

I could go on. But it makes me feel ill to do so. You can read the invoice, and that is just a ‘Part Invoice’.

This from a man who thought trained nurses were ‘paid handsomely’ at less than £40,000 a year.

A man who said that railway workers earned ‘too much money’ at £41,000 a year. (Including overtime and unsocial shift pay)

A man who said that the minimum wage of £9.50 an hour was ‘more than enough to live on’.

Is it any wonder that they call his wife ‘Carrie Antionette’?

It it any wonder that he has now been forced to resign?

Not to me it is not. It is long overdue.

Is There Still A War In Ukraine?

~ beetleypete ~ 32 Comments

Reblogging this from my other blog because I want more people to see it.

REDFLAGFLYING

I know, silly question.

But if you had been watching all the main news channels here for the past week, you might be forgiven for thinking that Ukraine and Russia had called it quits.

Boris Johnson, lies in parliament, resignation, who wants his job. Big news. Bigger than a war that might escalate across Europe, even become a world war?

Well the mainstream media obviously thinks so. Even the Wimbledon tennis and Women’s football took precedence.

Then the former prime minister of Japan was assassinated.

But they had to cut back from that to the ‘Breaking News’ that Keir Starmer was not going to be charged with any breach of lockdown rules.

Ukraine? Nothing. I sat through a few main bulletins hoping to be told what was going on, but all I got were updates on who was going to stand for election as Conservative leader, then some lightweight stuff…

View original post 40 more words

Guest Post: Gavin Marriott On Scottish Independence

~ beetleypete ~ 26 Comments

In 2014, Scotland was allowed to conduct a referendum to become an independent country. Over 55% of eligible voters chose to vote to stay in the United Kingdom. But the issue never went away, and the current leader of the devolved Scottish Parliament, Nicola Sturgeon, has announced another referendum, which will take place in October 2023. In this short guest post, Gavin considers the issues around the defence of both an independent Scotland, and the rest of Great Britain, should the vote be different next time.

Scottish independence and defence. Gavin Marriott

Due to an event during my time in the London Ambulance Service in the early 80s, I have a close association with a small part of the UK armed forces.
In 2014, I was their guest for the ceremonies for the beginning of the WW1 centenary in London and Belgium, and I did a trip around Scotland. I have Scottish blood in me. The bagpipes do something positive to my cardiovascular system.

But all this coincided with the Scottish independence vote, and I had to be careful raising discussion with arch rivals literally sitting either side of me. And there were times you could have cut the air above me with a blunt knife.

With Brexit and other events, the independence vote is on the agenda again. I will not discuss the pros nor cons or even contemplate a view. But in this discussion, I want to focus on an aspect ignored in the consequence of independence, and that is Defence.

It is more than a case of giving the Scots Guards to Scotland. Those guardsmen are mainly English or from the commonwealth anyway. Firstly, an independent Scotland would have to apply to join the EU & NATO. To not join either would be unthinkable. But joining would take years with criteria and hoops to meet – like having a 2% of GDP spend on its military.

The Scottish Parliament has made it abundantly clear, the Trident nuclear submarine base on the Clyde would leave Scotland. These are Britain’s major defence deterrent. There is nowhere else in Britain with the deep water to house theses subs and to shift them to America would have to be considered at a cost of multi billions and Scottish job losses.
The same with RAF Lossiemouth which has Britain’s entire maritime patrol and early warning aircraft stationed there. There are also British radar installations which would need moving.

So why are the subs, aircraft and radar based in Scotland? Because Scotland is closest to the threat of Russia (North Sea, Norwegian Sea and the Atlantic) and would be the first attacked. It is sparsely populated and would be easy pickings. Scotland is 32% of the UK landmass and has a coastline of over 10,000 miles. So its in Scotland’s favour for Britain to have these facilities in Scotland. It allows any threat to be spotted far away and intercepted in time (and Russia often tests this).
Scotland not having these assets would affect its NATO membership and Scotland not being part of NATO would leave it open to a Russian takeover. That would threaten England. So there could be more tension than football rivalry.

With major UK bases in Scotland and Scotland building warships, they gain a lot financially from UK’s combined military. Also what about the Scots that make up 15% of the UK military yet only have 8% of the UK population. What would there be for them in Scotland?

Look at a country with a similar population, New Zealand. We have no fighter aircraft, only 2 warships and only 2 regular infantry battalions. But we are in close cooperation with Australia and we do have 4 of the latest maritime patrol planes. Scotland would need more than 4 (The RAF have 9). Belgium and Netherlands now have a joint military squadron and the British and French aircraft carriers are compatible. Could Scotland be independent with an English or American military alliance. It would have to keep the subs for that.

So could Scotland go it alone??